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Luxury European Cruise with Teens

My husband and I hope to take two 16 yr old daughters on a Mediterranean cruise in June 2017. Our experience with the smaller luxury cruises is that there would be no passengers on the young side. Do you have a recommendation for a particular line or perhaps a land tour operator that would offer an upscale experience of Italy, Greece and the likes with ease of planning and moving from spot to spot?

If I had teenagers I wouldn't take a tour and would only reluctantly take a cruise. A cruise wouldn't be terrible because there are activities on board . . . bit it would not be 'seeing' Europe, but taking a sea cruise with a few day-long shore excursions.

IMO/IME a trip (independent - not tour based) to Italy or Spain or a multi-city something like Rome/Venice/Paris/Amsterdam would be much more enjoyable for a family . . . just my 2¢

Agree with Janisj about not taking a tour with teens. I did it with teen students and they enjoyed it and got a lot out of it. A tour was the best way to do it with a sizable group. You have only two, though, so it would be easy to do on your own, and I think, more rewarding. You can pick your own sights, hotels, food, etc. the teens can get involved in the planning. Depending on your time, pick two or three or four places when you can spend time and take some day trips.

I also agree that a cruise does not give you the experience of seeing and being in Europe. However, you are going to Spain in March, so a cruise would be a different experience. Cruises are great family vacations. Every teen I have met loved their cruises. Picking the right cruise for the whole family is key. We do them just for fun together and to get away from bad weather in winter. We have also done several in the Med, just to see specific places, knowing it was not for immersion in Europe.

Points on a cruise with teens.
Real luxury cruises are usually not geared toward kids of any age. Many have absolutely no programs or dedicated spaces for kids or teens. Skip those.
Though they offer some activities for younger traveler's, some ships are quiet and more staid with entertainment for adults. Celebrity, HAL and Princess come to mind, though time of year and particular itinerary also affects that. Cruises to the Caribbean and in Summer always have more kids and more programs.

That doesn't mean the other ships are not nice. Food may be very good. Entertainment is likely to be good, etc. They are a little less formal and offer a wider variety of activities and entertainment.

Don't consider just the cruise line. Look at each ship. While the cruise line counts, small ships don't have the space for good kids programs. Bigger, newer ships have more things to do like more pools, rock climbing walls, water slides, Teen Centers, etc. They offer big name entertainment from Broadway to Las Vegas.

You still want an itinerary that is good and stops at places you want. Look for long stops, not just a few hours, and not with ports that take to long for travel.

Choose a cruise you like that starts/ends at places you are interested in. Go two or three days early. Stay two or three days afterwards. That way, they get some European experience with a fun, family cruise in between.

None of their ships offer a single activity or space dedicated to teens or children. Would not consider it a "family friendly" cruise line. Your teens might enjoy the ports, but not likely to meet any other teens.

HappyTrvir, maybe you could post the age of the grandkids and what they liked about their cruises. Maybe a trip report. It would be helpful to other parents considering it to know more specifically what Windstar and Crystal does for families and how it worked out. The itinerary and time of year would be helpful too. Are the GD quiet, mostly readers, etc. or very active, into sports, socializing, etc.? That would make a big difference.

On all cruises (no matter the ship) we have taken in the Caribbean, there have been kids and they seem to be having a great time. However, on early Spring and later Fall cruises, even in the med, there were few kids. On Celebrity, it was mostly very mature cruisers. My GD would not have enjoyed it and my kids as teens would have read, etc. but not have enjoyed it as much with no other kids.

Meant to say that early Spring and Late Fall cruises in Europe had fewer kids. That is not so for the Caribbean. During Early Spring, families go on cruises to the Caribbean to get away from cold weather in the US.